The Netherlands unveils the first public hydrogen fuel station

Europe is truly embracing hydrogen refueling stations — first we saw Italy install solar-powered pumps, then Germany announced plans for a hydrogen fuel network that will be finished by 2015. The latest nation to jump on the bandwagon is the Netherlands, which recently unveiled the first public hydrogen fueling station in the country. The first pump is installed in Arnhem and it is reportedly one of the first stations to be installed along Europe’s Hydrogen Highway.

The hydrogen station includes a small-scale plant that produces hydrogen, which is stored in compressed form. The hydrogen fuel is then fed through a special hose into hydrogen vehicles – just like a standard gas pump. As it is the first hydrogen facility in the country, it has a limited capacity and will mainly serve local vehicles that have been converted to hydrogen.

There is currently one major drawback for hydrogen cars and that is the huge tanks that they have, which often take up all of the trunk space or back seats of the cars. It is hoped that hydrogen car makers such as Daimler, BMW, GM, Ford, Toyota and Honda will be able to remedy this and make a smaller, more convenient hydrogen vehicle that the public will embrace. With the construction of the European Hydrogen Highway now underway, this is bound to be the first of many hydrogen pumping stations that will pop up on the continent.